The Cooling Off Period
by ClovertheHufflepuff
Summary: Harry finds out that Ginny is cheating on him, and leaves her so he can process it, but he needs a place to stay where she won't find him. He ends up in the house of Draco Malfoy, despite the fact that they never made it past the stage of "civil" after the war. Eventual Drarry, a bit of buildup first, mpreg later, changed to M for mature themes (alcoholism, sexual content)
1. Ginny's Been Having Tea With Dean

Disclaimer: none of the characters belong to me, nor the world in which they live. this is fanfiction of Harry Potter, and everything belongs to J.K. Rowling

Dean? What are you doing here?"

Harry couldn't believe what he was seeing. After having worked long nights at the aurors office for the past few months, he had decided to surprise Ginny, and come home early that day. As things stood right now, Ginny was definitely not the only one surprised. Harry might have even been happy to see Dean, if he and Ginny hadn't looked so guilty.

"Errrr- hey Harry.." Dean cleared his throat. "I.. uhh..."

Ginny shifted uncomfortably. "Harry, this isn't what it looks like, we were just having some... tea..." she ended miserably, her gaze shifting from Harry to Dean, and back again.

Harry was getting angry now, his face turning a slight pink, as he responded, "'Having tea' my ass! What is he really doing here?"

Ginny, although she knew she had no right to be, grew defensive. "Don't you trust me? Dean, I think you should leave, Harry and I have some talking to do."

Dean let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, a relieved look crossing his face, which quickly faded away, as he noticed Harry still glaring at him.

"Right then, I'll be off..." he glanced at Ginny, and added, "Thanks for the... tea..." but after seeing Harry somehow increase the intensity in his glare, he muttered a sheepish "g'bye then." and walked out the front door, before he quickly apparated away from Harry's glaring eyes.

Harry tried for the same threatening stare at Ginny, but he couldn't do it, and fought himself to keep his composure. In the end, his emotions won, and he broke down in front of her. "Ginny, how could you?" he looked her in the eyes as he said it, but she looked away when she heard his voice crack from the pain she knew he was feeling, pain she knew she had caused.

"I didn't..." she tried to lie to him, but couldn't. She let out a sigh thick with emotion, and corrected herself, "Harry, I'm so sorry, I... You were just gone so much, all the time! I started to think you didn't love me..."

Harry cut her off. "How could you think that? How did I let you think that? Ginny, I... even now, I still-" his voice broke. "I think I need some time away. I still care about you, and if you're happy with Dean-"

It was Ginny's turn to cut Harry off. "Harry, don't do this! Please don't do this. Stay with me, I promise I'll make it right. I need you..."

Harry just shook his head. "If you'd needed me, you wouldn't have... you wouldn't have cheated on me. I won't be gone forever, at least James deserves that, but I just need some time away right now. Please." his voice trembled as he said it.

Ginny began crying. "Please Harry I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Stay! Please stay here with me, and I promise-"

But Harry had already made up his mind. He lightly brushed Ginny's cheek, as if trying to comfort her, to dry her tears, and with a movement, he clutched his wand, and apparated away.

He had apparated right outside Ron and Hermione's house. He had nothing with him, and this had been the first place he had thought to stay, but he began to doubt himself. This would be the first place Ginny would think of too. Part of him wanted her to find him, to take him back home, but he knew, rationally, that he needed time to cool off. He needed desperately, a place to stay, but every friend he could think of, he knew Ginny would eventually come to think of as well. This left him with only a couple more options, he could stay at an inn, but he knew with his fame that had followed him from his childhood, he would not last a day. One more idea crossed his mind. If he couldn't stay with any of his friends...

His thoughts were cut off by a familiar voice.

"Blimey, Harry, it is you! I nearly spilled my dinner on the floor when I saw someone just standing outside!" his face suddenly filled with concern. "What are you doing here, anyway? Is everything alright? And for goodness sake, come inside!" Ron tried to lead him inside, but Harry stopped him. "Ron, Ginny cheated... she cheated on me. I- I can't stay. She'll find me here."

Ron's eyes filled with anger, and for a second, Harry was worried that it was directed at him, until Ron finally said, "Bloody hell! I'm sorry mate. I'll kill her! Or at least punch her. Who was it with? If Mum hears about his... well I might not need to do the punching!"

Ron was just trying to cheer him up a bit, but Harry just shook his head. "It was with Dean. And please don't kill or punch anyone, I still care about her, I just need to cool down, and to process it."

Ron nodded slightly, and opened his arms to give his old friend a hug. Harry accepted it gratefully. After Ron's display of his sympathies, he offered, "You sure you don't want to stay here? I'm sure 'Mione and I could scare Ginny off if she showed up."

But Harry just shook his head. "I appreciate your offer, but I don't want to risk it. It's been nice seeing you, even if it is under these circumstances. Bye Ron. Send Hermione my love."

And with a crack, he was gone, apparated away to someone Ginny would likely never think of. To someone he barely knew as anything more than an enemy. To someone named Draco Malfoy.

* * *


	2. Malfoy Manor

Draco Malfoy had just finished his dinner when his house elf, Inky, alerted him that a wizard had apparated just outside the manor, and was waiting at the door.

"he says 'is name is 'arry Potter, sir."

Draco stared at his house elf. When he realized that Inky was starting to look uneasy, he finally ordered him to "let him in then, no need to keep him waiting in the cold."

Inky apologized several times, and then apparated to the door.

Draco was still racking his brains for anything he had done that would warrant an auror, Potter of all people, to come to his home at such a time, when Inky led the auror into the room. Any bit of worry that this was about him melted away when he saw Harry's exhausted face. He barely restrained a 'Well you look like shit,' and instead managed to squeeze out "Auror Potter. What brings you here at this time of night? I promise you, I have done nothing relating to the dark arts recently."

Harry grinned weakly. "I assure you, Malfoy, I am not here because of anything relating to my auror duties." His grin fell away. "I- I need a place to stay."

Before Draco could fully process this information, or even begin to ponder why Potter needed to stay at his house, of all people's, Harry added an explanation.

"I know that we are not the closest of friends... hell, I don't even know if I'd call us friends at all, but that is exactly why I'm here."

Unfortunately, Draco did not let Harry finish speaking.

"So you're here to become my friend? Interesting time of night to do so, Potter. I do agree with what you said about not calling us friends. If you recall _all of our years at Hogwarts_, we were nothing anywhere close. Just a tip Potter, if you want to make friends with people, don't just show up in the middle of the ni-"

Harry decided this was enough. He needed to finish explaining to Malfoy. He wasn't sure if this would work, if Malfoy was going to be such a prat the entire time, but he had to at least try, because otherwise, he risked being found by Ginny.

He cut Malfoy off before he could finish his rant. "Malfoy, as much as I would like to return to our old ways of bickering nonstop, I need you to listen to me now. Please."

The 'please' threw Draco off completely, allowing him to notice the tired look in Harry's eyes, and the sadness that seemed to live in every line of his face.

Harry continued on, "My wife, Ginny, she ch-" his voice broke, as hard as he willed it not to. "-cheated on me... I... I need a place to stay. I decided on your house, because, frankly, we aren't the best of mates, and I need a place to stay where she won't find me. I- I understand if you say no."

Draco was embarrassed. He had interrupted Harry Potter's plea for help. He had jumped to a conclusion and tried to argue with a man that had been cheated on, hurt. And now he didn't know what to say.

"I-I'm sorry Potter. For the way I acted and... and for what your wife did to you. You can stay with me."

Harry let out a small sigh of relief. "Thank you, Malfoy. I'll try to stay out of your hair while I'm here"

They stood there awkwardly for a brief amount of time, before Draco finally broke the silence by calling for his house elf.

"Inky" The men heard a crack, and suddenly, there the houself stood, wearing a raggedy, yet relatively clean pillowcase.

"Please show Auror Potter to one of the guest rooms." Draco ordered.

"Yes sir." Inky nodded while saying this, and gestured for Harry to follow. He began to do just that, when Draco spoke up.

"If you want some drinks or anything, I'll be downstairs with... drinks..." he ended lamely, but got his point across.

"That sounds good, thank you Malfoy."

Harry nodded, and then turned around to continue following Inky. As they wound through the halls, Harry began to wonder if he would be able to find his way out on his own, when Inky offered, "If you ever need anything, Mister Potter, sir, just say my name and I'll come to you. An' here we are, this is your room. That there," Inky pointed to a door down the hall, "is the bathroom. Do you need anything else?"

Harry shook his head. "No, thank you Inky. You have been a great help to me."

Inky nodded his head down politely, and then apparated away, leaving Harry to explore his room.

Harry opened the door, finding a large room, with velvet green curtains that matched the color of the blankets on his bed. The walls were painted a light grey, and all wooden furniture, namely a wardrobe, a desk and chair, and a nightstand, was a dark mahogany. The whole room screamed Slytherin, but Harry couldn't complain. He was just a guest, afterall. Harry walked into the room, and removed his jacket and scarf, hanging both on the back of his chair. He sat down on the bed, and marvelled at how soft the blankets were. _Ginny would have like it here_. The thought popped into his mind, and he couldn't get it out. He let out a sigh, and decided that now was as good a time as any for some drinks.

"Inky...?" he said the house elf's name as if it were a question, and waited. Soon enough, Inky had popped into his room.

"Yes sir?"

"Could you please take me to the drinks?"

Inky looked taken aback for a second, but then said "Yes sir."

Harry began, once again, to follow the house elf.

As they reached a more familiar part of the house, Harry heard Draco call out to him.

"I see you've decided to join me then. It's probably fro the best, you seem to have been having a rough day. Draco laughed, and Harry realized that he was already a bit drunk. _Then again, what does it matter, he's right._

"Thank you Inky, I no longer require your assistance." Inky popped away, leaving Harry to the drinks, and to Malfoy.

Harry sat down on the couch, next to Malfoy, but as far as he could possibly sit on the same couch.

"Soooooo... what is there to drink?"

Malfoy just gestured to partially drunk bottle of fire whiskey, and several unopened bottles of butterbeer. To Harry's surprise, there were aslo several muggle brands of scotch. He started by picking up one of the butterbeers.

Several hours later, Harry was pouring his heart out. Both men were drunk, and somehow, despite Draco's head start, Harry was much, much drunker. Together, they had finished all of the butterbeer, the entire bottle of firewhiskey, and were working on the scotch.

"Why woulshee cheatonnmeee? Ionlee workedhard becauseIlove'er." He had started bawling like a baby, and leaned up against Malfoy, who was cradling Harry's head, as if it actually was a baby.

"Sssss'not fairrr"

Draco just patted Harry's head "Notfaaair atalllll." He said in agreement.

"n'whaabouyouu? An'ladee 'roubles?"

Draco snorted

"oOOooh LoTssSSss. Wwwwell, mmy parents'ried tosetmeupp wi'Pansy." He crinkled up his nose. "But I don'likegirrs soo Iendeddittwitherr."

"OooOof, soooorrrymaate. Don'likegirrs?" Harry questioned. Their talking had devolved into somewhat incoherent blabbering, extremely slurred, but they continued to drink.

"Don'likegirrrs." Draco nodded his head, confirming it. "III like boyeeeess..."

Harry's eyes had begun to feel heavy. "boyeeeessarrre prreeeety.." he agreed, falling asleep. Draco was about asleep when he heard Harry say that. His eyes shot open, Harry's words running through his head on repeat. _"boyeeeessarrre __prreeeety?"_

His eyes grew heavy once more, and the alcohol took over. Soon, both men were fast asleep.

The next morning, Draco, despite his pounding headache, felt peaceful. _Why's my lap so warm... _"ahh!" He let out a tiny yell, which, although came from him, did not in the slightest help his headache, and he clutched his head. He remembered bits and pieces of last night's conversation. _Did I come out to Harry Potter last night? _Harry's slurred words suddenly echoed in his mind once more _"boyeeeesarrre prreeeety." __DID HARRY POTTER COME OUT TO ME AS WELL?_

"Inky..." Draco clutched at his head, and Inky popped in. "Bring me a bottle... make that two bottles of hangover potion..."

Instead of responding, Inky popped out of the room, seemingly knowing that his high voice would not help with hangover. Inky returned with a tray, on which were two bottles of hangover potion, and several glasses of water. "Thank you Inky..." Draco murmurred.

He tried his best not to think about Harry, who was hugging his thigh, and sleeping peacefully in his lap. He tried very hard not to think about Harry's words from the previous night. Despite all his trying, it was the only thing he could think about. He made his decision, and nudged Potter gently, while trying his best to shift himself in a way that Harry would not notice the bulge in his pants.

Harry groaned as he woke up, and was luckily so utterly and extremely hungover, that as he squinted and sat up, he noticed nothing.

Draco picked up both bottles of hangover potion, and as he crossed his legs, he handed one to Potter.

"Here, drink this. It'll help with the hangover."

Harry grunted, and started to drink the potion. Draco did the same next to him

Harry put doen his bottle, and clutched his head as the potion took affect.

Draco was about to question him about what he had said when he was drunk, mainly the 'boyeeeesarrre prreeeety' part, when Harry said "What happened last night? The last thing I remember is us opening the scotch."

Draco swallowed his question. "I don't know," he lied, "that's about the last thing I remember too..."

Harry sighed, and then shrugged his shoulders. He picked up one of the glasses of water, and started sipping at it. Draco made a decision, and turned toward Potter slightly. He stuck out his hand. "Truce?" Harry, almost choking on his water, put down his glass, and brought up a hand to meet Draco's. They shook on it, and Harry confirmed it. "Truce." He said this seriously, and then grinned "Mostly because you make a great drinking buddy" and then ducked, as Draco swatted at his head. They both fell into laughter, and then, once both of them had finished both of their respective cackles, Draco said, "Whelp, I'm going to go clean myself up." He got up, and left. Harry was about to do the same, when he realized that he A: did not remember where his room was, and B: did not have any extra clothes...

"Uhhh, Malfoy, do you happen to uhhh... have any clothes I could borrow?"

Malfoy, who was already most of the way up the stairs, groaned. "I'll have Inky bring some to your room."

"And uhhhhh..."

"Yes Potter?"

"Where is my room?"

And so began Harry's stay at Malfoy Manor.


	3. Fire Whiskey, Treacle Tarts, and A Dream

It had been a week since Harry had moved in, every single night both he and Draco would get extremely drunk, and every single morning, Draco would be the only one who remembered what had happened the night before. He found it infuriating, because sometimes, no matter how slurred their conversations, he wanted Harry to remember them. Despite their one-sided drunken late-night heart-spilling-outs, they had grown rather close, considering the fact that it had only been a week, and the fact that Harry didn't remember the majority of their conversations. Although they were nowhere near being the best of friends, they both considered themselves as friends, which was a huge step up from the 'barely aquaintances' they had been when Harry had first moved in.

Every day, Draco had needed to buy more alcohol, and today, he had made the unwise decision to purchase 4 bottles of fire whiskey, hoping to stock up for the next few days. Harry was waiting for him when he got back.

"Heyyyyy, mate, did you happen to buy any food while you were out? Maybe some treacle tart or something?"

"Harry, treacle tart isn't food. It's a dessert."

"Oh, it's 'Harry' now is it? Alright, then, _Draco_, since when was dessert not considered a food?"

Draco froze for a second. He had gotten used to calling him 'Harry' while they were both drunk. But Harry did not remember their conversations. Draco made some excuse up on the spot.

"Well, now that we're friends, why should we call eachother by our last names? I mean, we only used to do it because we hated eachother. Anyway, if you really want it, I can go back out and get a treacle tart"

"Or two?" Harry chimed in hopefully.

"I'll buy all of the dambed treacle tarts if you would just stop that whining for five minutes! Honestly, Harry, you're like a child."

Harry grinned, and promptly shut up.

Draco groaned. " I should have made it longer than five minutes. I should have asked for a whole day. Maybe a year for good measure." Draco faked a scowl, while Harry tried his best not to laugh. Five minutes later, Harry was bugging Draco incessantly to "go buy all of the dambed treacle tarts please."

Draco just shook his head, grabbed his coat and a sack of galleons, and left.

Draco didn't know why he listened to Harry. He could have just as easily ignored his pleas and hidden in his room. Draco felt a pang inside him, a little voice saying that he had grown too fond of Harry. If anyone else had asked, Draco would have told them that he was only doing what Harry wanted because 'the poor man just got cheated on, I'm giving him a break.' Inside, he knew that was only part of the truth. _But I am not falling in love with him. I can't be. The thing that I like most about him is our drunken conversations, which he doesn't even remember. If he doesn't even know about them, then how am I supposed to tell him that I do? _

Draco stoped walking, as he had reached the bakery. When Draco walked in, he inwardly groaned. There were seventeen treacle tarts.

He walked up to the counter, and pointed at them.

"I'll take all of the treacle tarts please."

The lady at the counter looked surprised. "A-all of them, sir?"

He scowled at her. "That's what I said."

Suddenly he heard a voice behind him.

"Draco Malfoy?"

He turned around, to see none other than Ginny Potter.

He felt a shock, a hint of panic, and an overwhelming anger. He did his best for all of these not to show on him in front of her. He couldn't give Harry away.

"Why, if it isn't Ginny Potter. Pardon me saying it, but you look like shit." And it was true, Ginny Potter looked terrible, as if she hadn't been sleeping, or even taking care of herself. _She still cares about him too. _He realized it with a stab of jealousy, but couldn't explain to himself why he was jealous.

He had expected anger, had been looking for a reason to yell at her but instead of arguing with him, Ginny began to look hurt. She swallowed several times, as if fighting tears.

"Uhhh... Look I'm sorry if what I said hurt your feelings... Are- are you alright?"

He hadn't known why he'd said it. He just knew he didn't want to watch her cry.

"I- I'm fine. Thank you, Malfoy."

He hadn't expected that response either. He nodded, and turned around to pay the witch at the counter, who was doing her best to look like she hadn't been eavesdropping.

Draco glanced back at Ginny, and then at the 17 treacle tarts he was buying.

"You didn't happen to come here for treacle tarts, did you? As you can see, I have plenty extra, if you want one..."

He didn't know why he was being so nice to her... She just looked so upset.

At his offer, Ginny finally did burst into tears, nodding her head vigorously. This made Draco extremely uncomfortable.

"I'm s-sorry." Ginny said, while frantically trying to control her tears. "They're my husband's favorite. My son's as well. I just came here to get one for my son, because he's sad that... that Harry..." at these words, she burst into even more tears. Draco felt a pang of sympathy, which didn't last long.

"Did something happen to Ha- Potter?" Draco faked concern for Harry's health, and caught himself before calling him 'Harry' in front of Ginny.

As Draco grabbed his box of treacle tarts, Ginny gestured to sit down.

"N-n-no. I'm sure that he's f-f-fine. He left me..." she misunderstood the anger on Draco's face as anger towards Harry, and continued. "It wasn't his fault, really. Not that you need to know this, but..." she lowered her voice, which was still trembling. She wasn't making eye contact with Draco. "I... I cheated on him." She finally looked at Draco, who at the last second, remembered to fake shock. He was surprised that she had admitted it to him, but he had already known this bit of info. Draco then remembered that he should probably respond. The only problem was that he didn't know how he should respond. In the end, he gave her a tight lipped, why-did-you-tell-me-this smile, a slight nod, and a light pat on the shoulder.

"I'm... sorry about that... ummm..." He opened his box of treacle tarts, to find one already seperately packaged, on the top. The baker-witch _had _been eavesdropping afterall. He silently took it out with both hands and gave it to her.

"Umm.. Thanks for telling me that, I guess? I uhh... I think that if you really are as upset as you look, Potter will come back to you. As much as I hated him in school, he always seemed like the forgiving type. If he could forgive me after the war... well, I'm sure he could forgive you after... this." He got up, and began to walk away, when her voice spoke up behind him.

"Thank you, Draco. F-for the tart, and for what you said. I hope you really are right."

He gave a slight nod, and then walked out of the bakery.

He apparated away quickly. _Why did I do that? She doesn't deserve my sympathy... __What do I tell Harry?_

When he got back to the manor, he had decided that he would, infact, tell Harry. The sun was beginning to go down when he opened the door.

"Sir, is that you?" Draco looked down to see Inky, who had a very concerned look on his face. "Oh thank goodness you're 'ere! Mister Potter found the fire whiskey you bought and-"

Inky was cut off by an extremely slurred voice.

"Drrrrrraaaacoooo! Huhuhuhhh..."

Harry smelled of alcohol, and was holding an almost empty bottle of fire whiskey.

"H-harry. What are you doing?"

Harry ignored him, and instead exclaimed, "Treaaaaacltarrrssss? Ilovvvvvvvve'reaclartssssss! 'ow didjoo know?" Harry gave Draco a hug, nearly knocking both of them over.

"H-harry! Get off me right now!" When his command didn't work, he tried a gentler approach.

"Harry, mate, could you please get off of me, I need to get inside, so we can get started on the tarts." This time, Harry shot up immediately, causing him to lose his ballance and fall over. He groaned, and rolled over twice, before vomiting on himself, and passing out.

* * *

Harry opened his eyes. The world was blurry, and there was a slight ringing in his ears. He tried to get up, but was hit with a bought of dizziness. A hand on his back steadied him.

"Wherrram I?" He blinked several times, and realized that he was very, very drunk.

"You're in your room, Harry. You... you passed out. I was terrified. Inky helped me clean you up and I brought you here."

It was Draco.

Harry's blurry eyes had cleared, and he turned his wobbly head to stare at Draco's worried face. "Thaaannnkouuu Dracoo. Merrrlin I'm still 'runnk. Hhhow longwaaasI outtt?"

"You were passed out for about four and a half hours. You drank almost 3 bottles of fire whiskey, so it makes sense that you're still... tipsy. I wouldn't be surprised if you were still drunk tomorrow."

Harry wobbled a bit, and Draco held both of his shoulders to steady him. Harry looked into his eyes, and thought he detected something else there. Draco turned his gaze away, inturrupting the moment to say, "Harry, you should lie back down. And drink this. It's just water but it should help you."

Harry didn't listen to him, and instead leaned forward. "Loooookitt mee..."

As soon as Draco had obeyed, Harry grabbed his face, with surprising coordination, considering how drunk he was, and firmly planted his lips onto Draco's.

Draco did not move for a solid 5 seconds, but soon seemed to melt into the kiss. He suddenly pulled away with a gasp. Harry let out a whimper, blindly reaching toward Draco.

"H-harry. N-no. No. You're just drunk. Very, very drunk." He seemed angry. He scooted away, and stood up, gently laying Harry down. Harry whined.

"Nooooooo commmbaaaaack 'raco! Iiiiiamm verrrrrryysoberr." Harry scrunched up his face. His eyes were closed, and his brow was furrowed. He was visibly passing back out.

Draco sighed, and gently cupped Harry's face with his hand. He spoke softly.

"I'll send Inky to you for when you wake up again. Goodnight Harry."

Harry made a small noise, but did not react when Draco pulled his hand away, and swiftly left.

* * *

Harry's head was in immense pain when he woke next. He could not remember a single thing besides having started to drink fire whiskey. He felt a tug on his blankets, and found Inky, holding a bottle of hangover potion. There was a glass of water on his nightstand, and he assumed that Inky had brought it as well.

"Thanks Inky..."

He didn't have it in him to say any more than that, as his head felt like it was about to explode. He drank the potion gratefully, and lay back down, to let it fully settle in. Harry heard a pop, which he knew meant that Inky had apparated away.

Harry racked his brains for anything he could remember about last night. He vaguely recalled Draco's voice, but couldn't remember what he had said. He also seemed to remember a kiss... But that couldn't have been right... The memory of it felt so far away, but he was sure of the memory. It felt distant, and unreal.

_A dream! That's it... It was just a dream..._

His face reddened, as he remembered just who he had kissed in his dream.

_Here for barely a week, and I'm already dreaming about kissing him... _

Harry shook his head. Draco would never know about it. There was no harm done. Yet, he couldn't help smiling at the memory of it. There was a sadness to it as well, though. _He won't have experienced what I did... _

This had happened more than once. Not ever with a kiss before, though. Every night, Harry had dreamed of talks with Draco. Every morning, he felt closer to him. This dream, however, he would try not to take to his real life. _Dreams are just dreams. Anything Draco did in my dream was just that... a dream._ He sighed, and sat up again. He'd have to face Draco sooner or later. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, and glanced at the glass on his night-stand. He grabbed it, and began sipping at it. He was surprised to find it room-temperature. _Inky must have brought it here a while ago..._

As he looked around his room, he realized that there was something on his desk. Perplexed, Harry got up and moved toward it. Suddenly, he grinned.

It was a slice of treacle tart.


	4. Vulnerability

Draco had not slept well that night. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. The fear he had felt when Harry wasn't waking up, completely unresponsive. If Inky hadn't been there, Harry might've never woken up at all. And then, when Harry did wake up, still incredibly drunk. The kiss, that Harry surely would not remember. The guilt, crawling in his stomach, when he remembered the distraught Ginny Potter he had seen the day before. Draco had spent his night, staring at the remaining bottle of fire whiskey, telling himself not to drink it. He had eventually moved to his bedroom, but still did not sleep. The kiss kept running through his mind. His initial shock, which had given way to the buried longing, until suddenly his brain took control of his actions, and he had pulled away.

_None of it meant anything anyway... he was just drunk. How could I let him do that? He was hurting... mindless. I was just there._

* * *

When it was around 6:00 AM, Draco got out of his bed, and sent Inky to Harry's room to monitor him. It was the first time in months that he had not had something to drink the night prior, but all he could think about was Harry. He heard a pop, which he knew meant that Inky had come to report back to him.

"Sir?"

Draco turned his head toward Inky, trying not to let his concern and exhaustion show. When he saw that Inky was not panicked, he just nodded his head slightly and turned away again.

"How is Harry doing?" he asked the house elf.

"Mister Potter is doing very well, sir. The diagnostic spells show that 'e still has some alcohol in 'is blood, but I do believe

'e will be fine by the time 'e wakes up again. If you don't mind me asking..." Inky looked a bit nervous, but continued. "Sir, 'ave you gotten any sleep?"

Draco turned back to Inky, and hesitated, before saying, "You needn't worry about that now, Inky. I'll be fine." Before Inky could protest, Draco ordered him away. "Inky, please go and keep monitoring Harry. While your at it, bring a hangover potion. And maybe... bring him a slice of treacle tart as well."

Inky just nodded, and apparated away.

As Draco settled down onto his couch, his eyes landed on the single unopened bottle of fire whiskey. He considered opening it, but then thought of Harry. He stood up, grabbed the bottle, and hid it away with a wave of his wand.

He sat back down, thinking of all of the things he would say to Harry. How he would scold him for how much he had drunk. He hadn't meant to fall asleep.

* * *

Harry felt a lot better after eating his slice of treacle tart. As he sat there, staring at his empty dish, he realized that he should probably get ready for the day. He slipped into his borrowed clothes, grabbed his empty plate, and stumbled down the halls to the kitchen. Before he had gotten all the way there, he was stopped by Inky, who stuck out his hands, as if offering to take the plate.

"Ummm... thanks Inky." Harry said uncertainly, as he handed the plate to Inky, who instantly apparated away to the kitchen.

Harry stood there for a second, unsure of what to do next. That was when he heard a light snoring coming from the couch in the room over. Confused, Harry pulled out his wand, and started creeping toward the couch. As the source of the sound came in to view, Harry stopped, and put down his wand, but he was no less confused than before.

"Tempus." He whispered. The time '12:56' showed in the air in front of him. Harry had never pegged Draco as the type to sleep late... or on a couch. Harry began to worry, and moved toward Draco again. He hesitated, before lightly tapping him on the shoulder a few times. Draco breathed in quickly and fluttered his eyes open. As soon as he saw Harry's worried face, and the remnants of the time charm cast seconds ago, he sat straight up and brushed himself off.

"H-harry. How long have you been up?" Draco stammered.

Harry, a bit taken aback by the question, responded, "Not long... Uhh, thanks for the treacle tart..." Harry trailed off, not sure of whether he should ask about Draco's place of awakening or not.

Draco nodded. He suddenly seemed to remember something, and snapped his attention back to Harry.

"Harry, do you remember anything from yesterday? Do you know how much you had to drink? Why did you...?"

Draco, who was starting to remind Harry of Hermione when she was worried about him, cut off suddenly as he noticed Harry's gaze on the floor.

"No, I-um... I don't remember anything. Um... I'm really sorry for..." _Getting drunk without you? Drinking all of your alcohol? Not remembering? _Harry felt a sinking feeling in his gut, as he realized that he didn't even know what to apologize for. He sat down on the couch across from Draco, and held his head in his hands. He turned his gaze to Draco when he heard him start speaking softly.

"Harry... I- I think you almost died last night. You vomited, and passed out... and then you were barely breathing. If Inky hadn't been trained to deal with this sort of thing, I think..."

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Draco... I... I'm sorry I put you through that. I just- I couldn't stop thinking about Ginny. I started thinking about it, about how I thought I had loved her, and how I might lose everything I built with her... About if I even really loved her, or if she even really loved me... It was too much, and I just wanted to forget... I really only meant to drink a little bit, I-"

Harry's voice was thick with emotion, his eyes glistened in a way that showed they were threatening tears, and he looked away from Draco.

"I'm sorry." He said faintly. "Merlin, how much did I have to drink?" He turned to face Draco again, sounding increasingly upset.

Draco, answered, looking a bit weary. "You... you had almost 3 full bottles of fire whiskey." He turned his silver eyes to meet Harry's green ones. "Harry... I don't think we should drink anymore. I-" He looked away, obviously hesitant to continue.

"I've had... problems, in the past. With drinking, I mean. I... As you can tell, I am most decidedly not married to Pansy. When I broke it off with her... Well, my parents weren't very happy." Draco gulped, as if he was trying to swallow his emotion.

"They all but disowned me, and I'm sure they would have, if I hadn't been their only heir. My father... he made m- he did something... stupid" Draco couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice, "and he ended up in Azkaban, where he died. My mother blamed me. She moved to France, and then died soon after as well. I was left here... with a fortune I knew they didn't really want me to have... and I turned to alcohol. I woke up one day, and I realized that as hard as I had tried to forget it, it was the only thing I could remember... almost a year of my life had gone by, and the only thing I could remember of it was what I was trying to forget. I can't let that be you."

Draco, still not looking at Harry, quickly swiped his sleeve against his eyes, and turned back to Harry, who was shocked by how vulnerable Draco had just been, and he just nodded. How had he not even thought about this before? About why Draco had been drinking with him every night, about why he had so many hangover potions, about Inky?

"I'm really... I..." Harry was at a loss for words, and just nodded again. Draco nodded faintly back at him, before getting up, rubbing his face, and saying, "Merlin, I need a drink." He had only half been joking, but he and Harry both burst into laughter. The tension in the air dissolved, and soon the two were laughing uncontrollably. As soon as their laughter subsided, Draco pulled Harry to his feet, and started walking toward the kitchen.

"Come on Harry, I we have 16 treacle tarts that we need to finish." He glanced at Harry, who looked extremely confused, and said, "I blame you."

Draco, smiling slightly, headed into the kitchen, leaving the bewildered Harry no choice but to follow.

Harry's eyes widened as he looked at all of the treacle tarts, that covered almost the entire counterspace. He turned to Draco.

"You do realize this is all I've had to eat today, right?" Harry said, a bit of concern in his voice.

Draco just laughed a bit, and said, "And it's all we're going to eat for the next month or so."

Harry turned his head toward Draco, his eyes wide.

"I'm not sure whether I should be worried or not..."

"Just enjoy it Harry." Draco said, smirking a bit.

Draco began to cut a couple of slices from the tart, and soon they began eating.

They started out talking, ignoring the large issues, but soon, they were just eating silently. When Harry looked up again, Draco was just staring at his slice of tart, a sort of bitter look in his eyes.

"Draco, is everything alri-" Draco cut Harry off.

"I ran into Ginny at the bakery yesterday."

Harry stared at him, his tart forgotten. "You... What? And you didn't say anything to me?"

"I just did, didn't I? Besides, it's not like you were in a state to remember anything I told you last night!" Draco snapped.

Harry looked away, slightly embarrassed. "Err... right. Sorry. Um... How was she?"

Draco looked a bit grim. "Frankly? She looked awful... I'm not sure if I should tell you this... but I think she was taking everything really hard. She was there getting a treacle tart for your son. When she stopped me to talk... I had to pretend I didn't know what was going on between you two, and as soon as I had asked her about you... She burst into tears. I think... I think she truly is sorry for what she did."

Harry felt awful. "I- Ginny... James..." His face showed every bit of guilt he felt in that moment, and Draco's face softened.

"Harry, it isn't your fault that she cheated on you, or that she's feeling bad about it. You fully intend to go back, so you aren't the one in the wrong here."

Harry just nodded, not fully absorbing Draco's words. He pushed away what remained of his slice of treacle tart, and said in a slightly dazed voice, "I think I need to go for a walk."

Draco reached forward, his eyes widening. "Wait, Harry, you can't go out there! You're famous, someone is sure to report seeing you, and Ginny will find out that your staying here! Or, do you even care? Are you even listening?"

Harry had just turned back to Draco to argue with him, when he heard Inky uncomfortably clearing his throat. The two men fixed their gaze on the house elf.

"Um... Sir, there is someone at the door."


	5. Having Company

Draco and Harry just stood there for a second, silent.

"Someone's at the door... Who?" Draco said, a slight panic in his voice. If it was who he thought it was... He glanced at Harry, who seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"She didn't tell me her name, sir." Inky said, sensing the urgency in the question.

"She?" Harry said, sounding alarmed.

"Oh no... it's got to be Ginny, she'll probably want to thank me for the tart... I shouldn't have been so nice to her... Shit!" Draco said, looking furious with himself. "Harry, you'll have to go back to your room, while I check the door... Unless you want to see her, I guess."

Harry shook his head numbly, opened his mouth to speak, and closed it again. He said nothing, instead making his way toward the stairs. Draco made sure he had gone a reasonable amount of the way there before heading to the door. As he reached it, he took in a deep breath. He could just turn her away. Have Inky tell her that he wasn't feeling well. But he had already come all the way to the door, hadn't he? Besides, it would probably be a short visit anyway. He took another deep breath, and opened the door.

"Hello-" he cut himself off when he saw that it was not, in fact, Ginny behind the door.

"Hermione?" he said, gaping at her with shock and relief. The relief, however, was short lived.

"Where is he?" she said forcefully, shoving past him and into the manor.

"I- hey where are you going?" he managed to get out, before hurrying after her.

Hermione made her way into the sitting room, and started poking around.

"Where is he?" she said,whipping around to face him, "Where is Harry?"

"Potter?" he said, trying his best to sound surprised and not nervous, "I haven't the foggiest idea. I haven't seen him in about... five years or so. Sorry to disappoint you."

Hermione was not impressed by his lie. "Right then, I'll have to look for him then." she turned around again, and made her way to the kitchen, stopping in her tracks as she spotted all of the treacle tarts laid out on the countertops. "What in Merlin' s name...?" she said, trailing off. She turned to look at Draco. "Why do you have all of these treacle tarts?" she said, almost in amusement.

Draco gave her the first excuse he could think of. "I- was going to hold a party last night. I cancelled it because I was feeling ill."

Hermione nodded, appearing satisfied with this answer. As her eyes swept over the kitchen, Draco let out a small sigh of relief. Suddenly, Hermione walked over to his table, and he swore internally. He had left the two plates of treacle tart on it. He followed her.

"Why do you have two plates?" She didn't say it, but he had no doubt that she was thinking about how this was amazing evidence of Harry being there.

"I- My house elf Inky and I were having some of the treacle tart. Since I have so much now." He invented, biting the inside of his lip nervously.

"Right," she said momentarily distracted from looking for Harry, "I've been meaning to talk to you about the house elf. You do know house elves have rights now, don't you?" she looked at him accusingly.

"Yes I do, and for your information, he gets paid. Not that you need to know this, but he was also medically assigned to me." He snapped at her.

"Oh." she said, sympathy in her eyes, "I didn't know You were sick, I'm sorry..."

"Well, not exactly sick. More, alcoholic. But thank you, I guess." He didn't know why he had told her that. He didn't like feeling pitied, but didn't know why he had thought telling her that alcoholism was his real problem would help. When she didn't respond, he took it as an opportunity to redirect conversation to how Harry was definitely not in his house.

"I appreciate your sympathies, I really do, but why are you so bloody insistent that Potter is in my house?"

Hermione sighed, and took a seat at the table. "I'm sorry, I really thought... Ginny had Ron and I looking after James. She didn't want him to see her like that, I guess. Ron and I were, and still are, quite mad at her, but we love our nephew, so we agreed. She came back with a treacle tart for him a couple of nights ago, and told me how you had been so nice to her. I just figured- well, why would you care, if Harry returned to her or not? I worked out that he must've been staying here. I mean, in my defense, it made total sense. Right before we lost contact with him, he told Ron that he didn't want to be found. I think your house would probably be the last place Ginny would come to think of. I-I'm sorry I bothered you." Hermione put her head in her hands. "His son just really misses him, and so do we."

"It's alright. I guess that does make sense, really. I hope you do find-" Draco was cut off before he could finish speaking.

"Hermione?" came Harry's voice from behind them.

"Shit, Harry I was covering for you, what the hell?" Draco glared at him, but Harry didn't seem to notice.

"Harry! Oh I knew it!" Hermione was out of her seat as fast as physically possible, and she flung her arms around his neck. Harry looked equally glad to see her, and gave her a tight hug. As they released from each other's embraces, Hermione turned her gaze toward Draco.

"Good job on you, I almost believed you for a second there." She grinned, and Draco couldn't help but smile a bit back. She turned back to Harry.

"How have you been?" she asked him.

"I've been alright. Went a bit heavy on the alcohol for a bit, but I think I'm ready to start facing the issue instead of trying to forget it." Harry glanced at Draco, and then continued. "Draco has been a real help, really. And I've found he's actually quite a decent person, at least as a drinking buddy!" he laughed, before adding, "Although I'm sure we'll be doing a lot less of that now." He sent a meaningful glance in Draco's direction which Hermione followed, and Draco nodded slightly. "Anyway, how have you and Ron been?" Harry said, turning his gaze back towards Hermione.

"We've been good!" She leaned in and smiled, "We're expecting!"

Harry look stunned, and was smiling back at her so hard it looked as though his face might just fall off. " Congratulations! I'm so happy for you two! I know you'll be great parents." He hugged her again.

They all eventually went back to the sitting room, and went on talking like that for several hours. Draco and Harry finished their treacle tart slices, and Inky brought a new slice for Hermione as well, who thanked him a few too many times. Hermione explained to Harry how she had figured out he was staying there, and assured him that she wouldn't tell Ginny. Harry asked about his son, and Draco sat there awkwardly, feeling as though he didn't quite belong in their conversations.

Eventually, Hermione had to go, and Harry was in a much better mood than he had been in before.

"That was great, wasn't it?" Harry asked, smiling.

"Er, yeah. I guess it was pretty nice to have someone else here." Draco answered. He swallowed awkwardly. "Harry?"

"Yes?" Harry responded.

"I feel like... there's nothing to do now. What are we supposed to do if we're not drinking? I just-" Draco flexed his hand.

Harry could tell that Draco really needed a drink. He considered Draco's words for a moment, before answering. "How about this, we make a deal. If you don't drink, I won't, if you do, I get to drink, and if I do, you get to. this way, we keep each other accountable, right? Deal?"

Draco nodded slightly, and repeated, "Deal."

Harry grinned a little, before saying, "Good, I'm glad we got that sorted out. anyway, as for things to do, we can always ransack the library. I'm sure you have one somewhere. We both need distractions right now."

Draco nodded, smiling a bit. "We do have a library. I haven't been in it in a while, but I used to really like going there." He got up and stretched his back, and then gestured for Harry to follow him. "Come on, I'll show you the way."

Harry jumped up, saying "Alright, Sounds like a plan!"

Draco started heading for a corridor that Harry hadn't known existed. they took a series of turns, and wound up in a grand library, with thousands upon thousands of books. Harry gaped in awe at the sheer number of books.

"Wow." He said, "If Hermione saw this she might explode."

Draco smiled at the joke. "Yeah, well, there are a lot of dark books in here. she might not enjoy it as much as you think."

"Well I'm sure as long as there are some normal books as well, she wouldn't care." Harry responded, laughing.

"Yeah, well. I can help yoh find some of those normal books, if you'd like." Draco said, looking down one of the many aisles.

"It's alright, I'd like to explore. Haven't really stretched my legs in a while." Thanks, though." Harry said, patting Draco's arm a bit, and then walking off.

That sounded like a pretty good plan to Draco as well, and he decided to go into some of the aisles he hadn't really explored before.

After about half an hour spent sorting through multiple books about curses, hexes, and poisons, he finally found something 'normal,' as Harry had put it. It was about wizard anatomy versus that of muggles, and Draco sighed in relief that it was not just pureblood propaganda. He carried it with him to the next aisle, along with a book about how to use charms in gardens, a cookbook, and a book about quidditch he had never read before. He was just about to go find Harry, when they ran into each other.

"Oh, hey, are you done, because I've sorted through enough books about dark magic for one day." Draco asked, gesturing to the books lying about in the aisles.

"Yeah, me too. I don't know how you found so many! I mean, I found one halfway decent book about phoenixes. That's it!" Harry answered, and they both laughed.

"I didn't really pay attention to whether they were decent or not. If it was not about 'how to use blood in potions' I grabbed it." Draco answered, still laughing.

They headed out of the library and back to the sitting room, where they laid out all of the books they gathered. Harry grabbed the cookbook, and the one about quidditch, along with his book about phoenixes. it was starting to get dark out, and Inky brought them some food.

"Thank you, Inky!" Harry said, digging into his plate of food.

They both ate in silence, enjoying having something other than treacle tart all day.

"Thanks for that, Draco. The library was a lot of fun." He said, grabbing his books, and heading to the stairs.

"Yeah, it was. Goodnight, I guess." Draco said, smiling. He grabbed his own books and headed for the stairs as well. when he reached his room, he set his books down and got himself ready for bed. As he lay in bed, he realized he hadn't had a drink in two days. Maybe he could change. He fell asleep feeling hopeful.


	6. Relapse

A month had passed since Hermione had first visited. Neither Harry nor Draco had had a single drop of alcohol since Harry's "incident," as they had taken to calling it. Hermione had visited many times, bringing Ron the past few, and James, Harry's son the last time. Harry had been in a better mood each time they visited, and had been ecstatic to see his son again. His son had been equally thrilled, and despite being only three years old, had run to greet Harry at a surprisingly high speed. Even Draco was starting to warm up to Harry's friends, and looked forward to their visits, as much as he denied it. Ron had been quite cold toward Draco during his first visit, but after Draco had awkwardly apologized to both Ron and Hermione for some of the things he had done in the past, Ron begrudgingly admitted that Draco had changed.

Draco had many instances where he had ached for a drink, but he felt like he owed it to Harry to honor their agreement, and things had been better recently.

* * *

Draco opened his eyes and yawned. The light coming in from his window told him that it was the morning, and he got up, checking the time with a quick tempus spell. A glowing "7:36" appeared in the air, and he got up, preparing himself for the day. His lower belly was aching, as well as his back, and he decided he should probably get something to eat. He made his way downstairs to the kitchen, where he got started cooking some eggs, toast, and bacon. He hadn't grown up cooking for himself, but after finding a couple more cookbooks in the library, he decided to try it. His first attempts to make anything complicated had failed terribly, but simple things like breakfast foods seemed to end fairly well. He made enough for both Harry and himself, along with a bit extra for Inky, and began to eat his portion. He heard a pop behind him that he knew was Inky. Although he wasn't drinking anymore, the house elf was to be assigned to him until he was a full year sober.

"Good morning, sir. How are you feeling?" Inky said in his squeaky voice.

"Good morning to you too. I'm feeling quite good today, actually. Thank you." He said as he turned to face him, smiling.

Inky smiled back, and nodded.

"I left some for you, in the pan." Draco said, gesturing to the remaining food.

Inky's eyes lit up, and he nodded gratefully, "Oh, thank you, thank you sir!" Inky made his way to the food, grabbed a plate, and served himself some of it. He then sat down at the table, although he was clearly too small for the chair, as the table was at his eye-level, and began to eat.

As Draco finished his food, he cast a cleaning charm on his plate, and put it away. He cast another tempus, which showed that it had been about an hour since he had gotten up. He was about to make his way to the library, when he saw Harry, still in his pyjamas with terrible bed-head, making his way down the stairs.

Draco laughed. "You know you look ridiculous, right?"

Harry just grunted something that sounded sort of like "Mornin t'you too..." Harry was NOT a morning person. He trudged his way to the kitchen, and Draco continued on to the library, chuckling to himself.

_Harry is so adorable, with his bed-head._ The thought popped into his head against his will. _No. Nonononono. We're friends. He misses his wife, his KID. _He told himself_, _with a pang of guilt and jealousy. He hated not being able to control his emotions like this. Against all of his common sense and his own will, he still had "feelings" for Harry. He had once, at Hogwarts, felt this way. Those feelings, though, eventually turned to hate, loathing. It hadn't been until they started getting drunk together that his old feelings started resurfacing. It had taken less than a week. And especially now, that both of them could remember their talks, and now that they were having real talks, those feelings were getting more and more out of his control. He hated himself for it.

Draco put his thoughts out of his mind as he reached the library. He headed towards the aisle he knew had mostly potions book. He had decided, last night, that he was going to get back into brewing potions. He used to enjoy it, and even used to have his own potions room. He hadn't made potions in a few years now, and wanted to get back into it. As he sorted through the books, he stumbled across his old fidst-year potions book.

_Might as well start with something simple._ He thought. He picked it up, and made his way to the potions room. He hadn't been in it for what felt like ages, and A thick layer of dust covered every surface. He set up the cauldron, cleaning it thoroughly of the dust, and then cleaned the surface he was using as well. He opened the workbook to a random page, and it landed on the wiggenweld potion, a healing potion that he had last made in first year. He recalled getting a good grade on it, and smiled at the memory. He gathered all of the ingredients, and set them on the table, along with a set of scales, which also needed to be dusted off, a knife, and a tool to stirr with. Right as Draco was about to start, Harry barged in, following Inky. Harry was now fully dressed for the day, with his hair only slightly less messy than before.

"What are you doing?" He asked Draco, picking up one of the ingredient jars and examining it.

Draco rolled his eyes, and asked, "What does it look like? I'm making a potion."

"Right." Harry said, scanning over the rest of the things Draco had prepared. "Why?"

Draco smiled, rolling his eyes again. "Because I want to, why else? I figured it would be a nice change of pace."

Harry considered this for a moment, before nodding, and sitting down. "I guess that makes sense. You did always seem to like potions in school."

"And if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?" Draco asked.

"Oh, I got a letter from Hermione saying that she and Ron can't visit for the next few days. Important work business and what-not. I thought you should know." Harry answered casually. Draco felt like Harry was leaving something out, but didn't say anything about it.

"Well," Draco said, "if that's all, you can go. Unless you want to help me, of course."

"Help you?" Harry said surprised, "Like, with the potion?"

"No, with turning this cauldron into a pretty little butterfly." Draco said sarcastically, rolling his eyes, "Of course with the potion. I mean, we had partners in class for a reason."

Harry reddened a bit at Draco's comment, making him feel a bit bad, but then Harry responded. "Well, yeah, sure. I guess It would be a nice change of pace, I mean, Merlin. I haven't made a potion since sixth year and that was when I had-" he cut himself off. Draco was about to asked what he "had" when Harry started again. "Well, I had- well I don't know how to put this. I had Snape's old potions textbook from back when he was in school. The margins were filled with tips on how to make the potions... better? It also had a few spells that I think he created. I tested a few of them out too, and they were fairly useful. I- didn't know it was his until after I got rid of it." His face paled as he remembered something. His eyes went to Draco's chest. "After I used one of them on you..." He finished quietly.

Draco paled as well, then, remembering the scars on his torso. He had forgotten about what Harry had done, really. so many worse things had happened to him since then. But Harry was looking pretty guilty as he waited for Draco's response.

"Harry, I don't really care about that now. Anyway, how did you end up with my godfather's potions book?" Draco said finally.

Harry looked relieved, and even smiled. "Well, if I'm being honest, Ron just got to the better looking one first. We didn't have textbooks so Professor Slughorn had us get some older ones. I was pretty upset too, until I realized that the book I got was more helpful than the one Ron got."

Draco nodded. "Alright. Well, I mean, I always wondered why you had gotten so good at potions all of a sudden. Anyway, this potion is pretty simple. You won't need any fancy instructions."

Harry agreed, and they started making the potion. About three hours later, they were waiting for it to cool. It was a bright green color, just like it was supposed to be.

"Well Harry," said Draco, wiping some sweat from his forehead, "looks like we made a fairly decent wiggenweld potion. Thanks for the help, you did a good job."

"Ah well, you did most of the work anyway, but no problem, I suppose." Harry said, looking embarrassed at the compliment.

Draco's stomach, which had been aching all day, gave an odd turn. He cast tempus, revealing the time to be 12:48.

"Well, I'm starved. How about you? It's just about time for some lunch, now isn't it?" Draco asked.

Harry nodded. "I could use something to eat."

They headed to the kitchen, where they were surprised to find some food already waiting. Inky had made them some sandwhiches while they were off making potions. Inky was nowhere to be seen, but the two were very grateful.

"We should leave a note or something. To thank him." Harry suggested.

Draco agreed, and once they had finished their sandwiches, Draco transfigured a couple of things into a quill, paper, and ink. He wrote a quick thank you note to Inky, and both he and Harry signed it.

They then went on to the sitting room, where they chatted for a bit, before Harry decided to go off to his room to do some more reading. Draco decided to do the same, and headed back to his room. He walked over to his desk, where he had left his books. He glanced up at his calendar as he was picking up his book, and suddenly, he felt numb. _No, that can't be right._ He thought to himself. He slowly put his book back down, and traced his finger along the dates, finally landing on the current one. He sank down into his desk chair. It was his mother's birthday, and he had forgotten. He couldn't believe it. All of his memories came flooding back to him. He flexed his hand, as he struggled to control his emotions. She had always loved him, no matter what. Always, until he had told her and his father that he was gay, and would not be marrying Pansy. She had been horrified, disgusted. She might've forgiven him one day, had he not sent his father to Azkaban. He felt numb, the dull ache in his stomach forgotten.

He didn't know how long he sat like that, but as it started to get dark outside, he made his way downstairs, his rational side forgetting how to control him. He just knew that he wanted to forget. Not thinking, he reached the liquor cabinet, which hadn't been opened in several weeks. He grabbed a glass, and the bottle of fire whiskey. He plopped down onto his couch, and began to drink. He didn't care anymore, he just didn't want to feel so broken. He could forget, and just pretend, even if only for a second, that he was normal. He sipped at his cup, until life went soft around the edges, and the familiar feeling enveloped him, welcoming him back.

* * *

Author's Note:

Ok, so before I write the next chapter, I really need to know what you guys think. Do you care if I change this story to an M rating? I mean, I'm not really sure what I want at this point. If you want, I can just sort of censor whatever happens and keep it T. If I don't get any responses, I probably will just keep it "safe." Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have been enjoying it so far! I appreciate all of the positive feedback. I hope you all have amazing days!


	7. Confession

WARNING: This chapter contains explicit sexual content.

* * *

Harry flipped to the last page of his book. It had been quite an interesting historical book about quidditch. His back felt stiff from sitting for so long, and he got up and stretched. Tossing his book back onto the bed, he checked the time, although the grumbling in his stomach told him that it was already past time to eat. The spell told him that it was, in fact, 9:23 at night. He couldn't believe he had been reading for so long! He had gotten up for a snack earlier, but that had been hours ago. He glanced at the thick book on his bed, before making his way out of his room. He stretched again, before going down the stairs. He was halfway to the kitchen when he heard a clinking sound coming from the sitting room. He turned to look at the doorway to the kitchen before his curiosity won over his hunger. He clutched his wand in his pocket, and slowly crept towards the sitting room. As it came into view, Harry understood what he had heard. A partially drunk bottle of fire whiskey sat on the table in front of Draco, who looked extremely upset.

"Draco! You're..." Harry started, but as soon as Draco made eye contact with Harry, the man broke into uncontrollable sobs.Harry shifted uncomfortably, before making his way over to the couch across from Draco, and sitting himself down heavily.

"I'm sorry Harry..." Draco said in between sobs. He wasn't fully drunk yet, but was just drunk enough that his emotions were not in his own control.

"Why? Why are you drinking? You must have a reason." Harry said stiffly.

"S'my mum's birthday..." Draco said, sniffing.

Harry sighed. "I'm sorry Draco. That's got to be hard on you. She's dead, isn't she?" Harry said softly.

"She's dead... She didn't love me anymore when she died. Notafterrr I sent my father to Azkaban..." Draco let out a whimper.

Harry rubbed his forehead, before conjuring a glass for himself, and pouring some of the fire whiskey.

Draco furrowed his brow. "No, Harry don't drink..." He muttered.

Harry just shook his head. "We made a deal, remember? If you drink, I drink. Besides, I'm not sure I want to be sober for this conversation." He answered, before sipping at the fire whiskey and grimacing. "You didn't send your father to Azkaban, Draco. He got himself put away. Don't blame yourself." Harry said, trying to calm Draco down.

Draco shook his head repeatedly. "You don' understand... I turned him in..."

Harry sighed, calculating. He got up, and grabbed any strong alcohol he could find in the liquor cabinet, before laying it all out on the table. He downed the rest of his fire whiskey, coughing a bit, and then poured himself some vodka, of a wizarding brand. The enchantments in wizarding alcohol made the more potent. He took the liberty of pouring some of it into Draco's glass as well.

He took a sip of it, hissing, before addressing Draco again, whose sobs had died down, and he was just sitting there now, with a sad expression on his face. "Alright, tell me." Harry said simply, as the alcohol started to work its way into his system.

Draco scrunched up his face, and held his head in his hands. He stayed like that as he started speaking.

"It was maybe three years ago... that I told them I woul'nt marry Pansy, because I didn't love 'er... because I could never love 'er... 'cause I'm gay. An' then they kicked me out o' the house." Harry's eyebrows rose in surprise when he heard Draco admitting his sexuality, but didn't say anything. Draco continued. "One day, about a year later, my father contacted me, saying he wanted to talk. Still the 'proval seeking idiot I was, I agreed. Bu' instead of talking, my father used the 'mperius curse on me, and tried to make me... 'e tried to make me rape a muggle." Draco's voice was thick with emotion. "I managed to break free of it in time... an' right after obliviating the muggle, I apparated to the min'stry... I gave them the evidence. An' then, 'bout a year ago, he died in prison... and then my mother died, and she didn't even love me anymore..." Draco was crying again, and downed his drink.

Harry didn't know what to say. He drained his glass of the drink, and refilled it, along with Draco's. They drank in silence, until they were both extremely drunk. Harry had, at some point, moved over to the same couch as Draco, and was now sitting next to him, patting his shoulder and hiccuping. They had gotten through the entire bottle of enchanted vodka, and had gone back to the fire whiskey. They were both swaying slightly, by the time they had finished the fire whiskey.

Harry was leaning on Draco for support. They happened to make eye contact, and suddenly, without warning, the two were kissing furiously. Harry ended up on top of Draco, pinning him to the couch, as their mouths moved passionately against one another. Draco wasn't crying anymore. His hands moved all over, most often finding themselves in Harry's mess of hair, tangling with it, pulling Harry closer to him. Somewhere, deep inside, he wanted to stop, despite how much he wanted Harry. His rational side telling him that Harry was married, and despite him being there, still loved his wife. Saying that he could not have this, and Harry would hate himself if he knew what was going on. That he was just super drunk, and that never in his life would he consider liking Draco that way. But his rational side was losing in his brain to his alcohol-heightened want, and he wanted Harry, badly. All reason left him. Weeks, years of suppressed feelings were coming out of him in passionate actions. It was messy, certainly not anything sweet or beautiful. But in that moment, it felt glorious.

Somehow, despite being heavily off balance, they managed to stumble their ways, kissing the whole time, to Harry's room. They stripped down, their clothes being thrown to the floor without a second thought. They fell onto the bed, now naked, and resumed their making out. Draco moaned into a kiss, and whimpered when Harry pulled away. Somehow, Harry instinctually managed to cast a wandless lube spell, making a mess, but getting himself and Draco ready. Draco was under him, slurredly begging for him to begin. Harry aligned himself with Draco's opening, and slowly pushed in, grunting. Draco moaned, shifting. Harry pushed himself in and out speeding up slightly with each thrust. Draco felt uncomfortable with the first few shoves, but after shifting, the next thrust brought him sparks of pleasure, and he begged in his slurred, drunken voice, for more. They were both in bliss, and as Harry finally reached orgasm, the feeling of being filled up sent Draco over the edge soon after. They were both extremely exhausted afterwards, but had smiles on their faces, as their rapid breaths began to slow down. Harry pulled out and went in for one more heated kiss, before laying down on his bed next to Draco, spooning him, and pulling up some of the covers around them. Soon, they had both drifted off to sleep, blissful and content.

* * *

Draco woke up first to an awful pounding in his head. He groaned quietly, but his hangover was forgotten momentarily, as he realized there was someone else in the bed, with their arm around him. _This isn't my room..._ He turned his head slowly, as not to wake up the person in bed with him. His stomach filled with dread when he saw Harry. _What happened last night? _He tried to recall a single thing, but couldn't. He just lay there for a second, with a sinking feeling forming in his gut. Slowly, he slipped out from under Harry's arm. As he had suspected, he was naked. His backside was aching terribly, meaning exactly what he thought had happened had happened. They had had sex. _If Harry found out... It would destroy him, he'd probably feel so guilty. I can't let him know what we did._ He thought, determinedly, while simultaneously panicking. He located his clothing, and tried his best to get it on quickly and quietly. He found his wand, and used a cleaning charm to get rid of any traces of their shared time, while leaving Harry's clothes scattered about the room. He opened the door, and glanced at Harry. He couldn't believe what they had done. He couldn't believe that he had let this happen. No. Harry would never know. He would make sure of it. He left the room, closing the door as quietly as possible. He stood in the hall, just staring at the door. He had been holding his breath without realizing, and he let out a long, slow breath. Still clutching his wand, he gathered his wits, and made his way to his own room. Reaching it, he sank down onto his bed, finally re-acknowledged his pounding head.

"Inky" he said, summoning the house elf.

Inky appeared, looking grim.

"I'm sorry, Inky." Draco said, softly. "It won't happen again. Could you bring me a hangover potion. And one to Harry as well? Please."

Inky sighed, before disapparating away momentarily. He reappeared with a bottle, which he handed to Draco, and then with another bottle in his hand, disappeared once more. Draco clutched the bottle, before downing it's contents.As he set down the empty bottle, he brought his knees up to his chest, and rested his head on them. How would he be able to face Harry after this?

Finally allowing himself to fully process the events, he began to cry. He had wanted Harry for so long. As a kid, and even still, at this very moment. And that, was the worst part of it all. He had what he wanted, just within reach. He had held it within his grasp, momentarily. And now, for Harry's sake, he had to let it go.


	8. Afternoon Breakfast

Harry woke up to a bright light flooding his room. His head was throbbing, and his eyes were having trouble adjusting to the change. He groaned, sitting up, and clutched his pounding head. He scrunched up his face, and finally allowed his eyes to adjust. The light he had seen was from the gap in his curtains, and there was a strip of light where his head had been minutes before. He squinted, his eyes still protesting, and saw a bottle of what appeared to be hangover potion on the nightstand next to him. He gratefully grabbed it, and forced it down. As his head cleared, he began to process the events of the previous night. He had found Draco, clearly upset, and getting drunk. He had joined him. Draco had told him about his parents, and why they were mad at him, and what his father had done. And after that, Harry didn't have a clue. He tried to recall anything leading up to how he had ended up in his own bed, but he couldn't remember a thing. He sighed, and rubbed his head some more. He pushed aside the blankets, and realized that he had gone to bed in the nude, his clothes thrown carelessly about the floor. He got up, hastily shoving his clothes into a somewhat more organised pile, and walked over to the dresser where his clothes were kept. He got himself dressed for the day and walked over to his pile of clothing, bending down to pick up his wand. He cast tempus, which told him he had slept in past noon, and as his stomach grumbled, he made his way to the kitchen. He was surprised to find that Draco wasn't there already, and by the looks of it, hadn't come down at all yet. Harry grabbed some bread and an apple, and began to eat.

"Inky," he called, hearing a slight pop that told him that the elf had arrived.

"Yes, Mister Potter?" Inky asked.

Harry put down his piece of bread, and turned toward the house elf, asking, "Have you seen Draco? I mean, he usually wakes up well before me." He was slightly worried, but tried not to let it show.

"Yes sir, I saw 'im at around 6 this morning, in 'is room. He asked for 'angover potions for the both of you." Inky answered, with a slight glare.

"Oh... right, thank you for that. And I'm sorry we drank so much last night. I'm sure it was just a one time thing, he had some... memories brought up." Harry responded sheepishly.

Inky nodded, his glare becoming less pronounced. "Alright." he said, somewhat reluctantly, before popping out of the kitchen. Harry sat in silence for a second, before beginning to eat again. _If he isn't down by the time I'm done, I should go check on him._ He decided. He needed to make sure that Draco was alright after how upset he had seemed the night before.

* * *

Draco had hardly slept since he had returned to his room. He didn't know what time it was, or how long he had spent tossing and turning in his covers. He could feel that his eyes were puffy, from crying and lack of sleep, and he felt like shit. His backside was still sore, and the ache told him that it had been real. He had hoped that it had all been a dream, that he had actually been in his room this whole time. But his waking up next to Harry and wandering back to his room in the dark had not been a dream. It hadn't even been a nightmare, as much as his situation felt like one. The whole thing had been real, and it had kept him awake as it replayed over and over in his head. As he turned over in his bed once more in a vain attempt to will himself to sleep, a knock sounded on his door, causing him to jump and his heart to pound.

"Hey, are you doing alright in there? It's getting a bit late." A voice came from behind the door. It was Harry. He sat up, his heart still racing.

"I'm fine. I- just... had a bit of trouble getting back to sleep." He responded, excluding the reason.

"Oh," came Harry's voice, "I'm sorry, I didn't know-"

"No, it's alright," Draco spoke over Harry's apology, "It isn't your fault, I was already awake."

"Oh. Alright then." Harry paused, before continuing. "Are you feeling up to talking about last night?"

Draco's heart missed a beat. Did Harry remember what they had done? "E-excuse me?" he stuttered out.

"Are you up to talking about what you told me last night? About why you were drinking? I mean, I understand if-"

"Oh, um... alright, I- I guess that's fine." Draco didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed. "Just let me get ready for the day and... then we can talk."

"Right, I'll uh, go wait in the sitting room then, um... right." Harry said awkwardly.

Draco heard a slight creak in the hall outside his door, which meant that Harry was walking away. He breathed out a long breath before he got up and walked over to his mirror. His eyes were red and puffy, and his hair was a complete mess. He considered glamoring himself to hide the obvious signs that he had been crying, but was too exhausted. He opted instead, for walking into his bathroom, and splashing his face with ice cold water. Although it didn't hide the puffiness, it helped to make him look more awake, which was the best he could do. He ran comb through his hair, in an attempt to de-tangle the mess, before heading back into his bedroom to dress himself. He grabbed new clothes for the day, and dressed himself, before walking over to his door. As he reached it, he hesitated. How would he be able to keep his secret? How would he even be able to look Harry in the eye? He chewed on the inside of his lip, before quickly reaching out and opening the door. He clenched his fist, digging his fingernails into his palm, before leaving his room.

As he got to the sitting room, he found that Harry was not there. Confused, he wondered for a second if he had imagined the whole thing, when Harry came in from the direction of the kitchen, holding a plate with some food on it. Of course, Harry had probably gotten hungry. His stomach rolled uncomfortably, as if to remind him that, he too, was hungry. As they both sat down, across from each other, Draco was surprised when the plate was placed in front of him.

"I already ate, but I wasn't sure if you had or not so..." Harry gestured to the plate, which had a couple of fried eggs, some toast, and an apple on it.

Harry was making this extremely difficult for him. Draco had decided, earlier in his room, that he would not tell Harry what they had done the night before. It wasn't like either of them remembered it, so what did it matter? He had told himself that Harry didn't even care about him, that telling him would just make him feel guilty that he had cheated on his wife.

_Telling him, _he reminded himself, _would ruin his life. He still loves Ginny, he loves his son. He does NOT love me._ He stared at the plate of food, as these thoughts ran through his head.

Finally looking up, as if he had just remembered that Harry was there, his eyes made contact with Harry's nervous gaze. He had to say something now. "You made me breakfast." He stated rather plainly.

Harry shifted, looking at something on the floor as if it were quite interesting, his face coloring slightly. "Well, I just thought- I mean, you've made breakfast for Inky and I before, and-"

"No, I just wasn't expecting-" Draco interrupted him, he hadn't meant to worsen Harry's nerves. "You didn't have to. It was quite thoughtful of you, actually. Um, thanks." It was his turn, now, to shift awkwardly. Harry looked relieved, and smiled at Draco, whose stomach fluttered defiantly as he tried his best to tell himself that he did not have feelings for the man sitting across from him.

"It wasn't a problem, really. I mean, it didn't take long." Harry said shifting again.

Draco nodded slightly, before giving in to his hunger. As he ate, he was aware of Harry watching him. When he looked up, however, Harry looked away, and Draco ate the rest of his food in silence. When he had finished, he wiped his mouth and placed his napkin on his empty plate. He looked back at Harry again, who seemed to be lost in thought.

"Thanks again. For the food I mean." He said awkwardly. He might as well get the conversation started somehow.

Harry nodded absentmindedly, before he seemed to snap back to reality. His eyes met Draco's, and he just said, "So you're gay then."

It was almost funny, that this man with whom he had, albeit drunkenly, slept with had led the conversation with that. "Is that all you heard me say last night?" Draco said, bristling. He didn't know why he felt so defensive all of a sudden.

"No, I just- you never told me." Harry said sheepishly.

Draco had told him before. When they were both drunk. He had done it on several occasions, actually. Not that Harry would remember.

"I didn't see a reason to." He said, still cold. "Not until..." He trailed off.

Harry continued, ignoring the icyness in Draco's tone. "Draco, I'm sorry your parents reacted the way that they did. They had no right-"

"They had every right to hate me! They expected me to marry off and to give them an heir and to not be an embarrassment to the Malfoy name! Instead, I had to go and tell them 'I can't marry Pansy, oh, and by the way, I'd much rather find some nice bloke to bugger.' and ruin their expectations. Why would they still love me if I didn't even try to do what they wanted?" Draco yelled angrily.

"You shouldn't have had to try! You couldn't change who you were, and it's not like you hadn't done anything for them! Hell, you have the proof of that marked on your arm! They SHOULD HAVE loved you no matter what!" Harry responded angrily.

Draco pulled his sleeve down, even though he knew that the dark mark wasn't visible to Harry. "Yeah, well, they didn't." He said bitterly.

Harry sighed. Look, I'm sorry. I just- what your father did- he deserved to be put in Azkaban. No one should use an unforgivable, especially for... something like that. You did the right thing, and you shouldn't have to hate yourself for it."

Draco stayed silent. He looked down, not meeting Harry's eyes.

"For the record, I am fine with you being gay. I understand if you didn't want to tell me because of how your parents reacted, but you need to know, not everyone is going to react like that. It isn't your fault, alright?" Harry's green gaze was trained on him when he looked up. He was still so angry... but those eyes softened him, and Harry's words finally sank in. He sat there quietly for a second, before quietly murmuring a "Thank you." He wanted so badly to just forget himself in those eyes. To reach out, to be held. He wanted to tell Harry what they had done, that they had had sex. He couldn't do it though, as he reminded himself just why he couldn't tell Harry. He looked away again, and stood up, picking up his empty plate. He carried it to the kitchen, where he cast a cleaning spell and put it away, tossing out the napkin. Turning around, he realised that Harry had followed him.

"You have to promise me that you won't drink again." Harry said fiercely.

"I-" Draco began, startled

"Promise!" Harry demanded.

"Merlin! I promise I won't drink like that again! Honestly Harry, it wasn't like I was planning on it!" He said, a bit frustrated.

Harry just nodded. "Good." He said. "Besides, I think if you did, Inky might have an aneurysm."

Draco let out a small huff, trying to pretend what Harry said wasn't funny. "Shut up." He said, finally giving in and smiling.

Harry grinned back. "Gladly."

And Draco could pretend, in that moment, that everything was normal between them.


End file.
